A Late Defiance
by Animegrl123
Summary: It wasn't until she no longer had Elphie that Glinda knew how it felt to truly fly solo...


**_It wasn't until she no longer had Elphie that Glinda knew how it felt to truly fly solo..._**

**Ever wondered what happened after Elphaba "melted?" I did. This is just a short story of what I think Glinda goes through after she loses her best friend. I am actually very proud of how it came out! Not really Glephie, but I suppose that if you really wanted to you could read through the lines of this and find some hidden Gelphie goodness in it. Definite Fiyeraba, however. Oh, and as everyone already knows, I do not own the book "Wicked" (well, yes I do, but I didn't _write _it), the play (don't I wish!) or any of these AMAZING characters! Now that all of that is out of the way, please read, and reviews would be much appreciated!_  
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A Late Defiance

"Your Ozness, Miss Glinda I was just… I just… Is, is it true? Is it true that you were _her _friend?" the farmer standing before Glinda asked, fiddling nervously with the brown hat he held tightly in his hands in front of him.

Glinda looked down at the farmer and his wife who stood before her in the great throne room, where she answered questions and settled disputes between her people every day, her best fake "Galinda" smile plastered on to her face. She knew exactly to whom the farmer was referring to, with the way his face twisted into an ugly mask of hate as he muttered the word her.

_No,_ she thought, _I was her _best _friend. And she was mine. I never knew what the word "friend" meant until she came into my life. _

Instead of saying so out loud, however, her fake smile simply grew, and she shook her head lightly, as she always did when confronted with this question.

"Well, that depends on what you mean by friend," she replied sweetly to the two munchkin farmers, "I did know her. That is, our paths did indeed cross. At school."

The farmers, as everyone did when hearing this, smiled up at the ruler of Oz, taking that to mean that the rumor of their beloved leader being _friends_ with the Wicked Witch of the West was just that. The very idea of anyone actually _liking_ the terrifying green witch was simply preposterous, and they both shook their heads, amazed at themselves for believing such a false rumor.

Glinda spent the next few minutes listening to the farmers talk about their farm and lives, smiling and nodding the entire time, encouraging them, making them feel at home. The two Munchkins knew that having the great Glinda The Good as their leader was even better than when the great Wizard of Oz was in charge.

Eventually the two farmers bowed and were ushered out of Glinda's presence. She smiled until the two were out of the room, and the large doors were shut behind them. Finally she let the smile fall from her face, as it always did when she was alone. Her cheeks hurt from all of the smiling she had done that morning, so she began rubbing them lightly, until the Captain of the Guard walked over to her from one of the servants' entrances. She smiled kindly at the large, rugged man, and he bowed when he got within five feet of her.

"That's the last of them for today, your great Ozness," he told her, as he faced down in his bow.

Glinda nodded as she stood up, stretching out her body. She had been sitting in that throne for hours, and she needed to get a few kinks out of her back.

"Thank you, Captain," she said to the man, "And I've told you, you do not need to call me that. The Wizard was the great Ozness. I am simply Glinda."

The man looked up at her, admiration shining throughout his eyes, as he replied, "Oh no, you are so much more than that! You are Glinda the Good! You saved us all from the Wicked Witch!"

Inwardly, Glinda twitched. The rumor that it had been she who had thrown the bucket of water on her dear Elphie, or that she had told that dreadful girl Dorothy to do so, was one that made her inwardly wail in agony every time she heard it. She always denied it with her usual fake smile, but what she really wanted to do was take out her wand on anyone who said it and throw something far more harmful than bubbles at them.

Outwardly, Glinda smiled at the man, making his eyes shine brighter, as she told him, "Oh I did no such thing!"

The man shook his head, ignoring her protest, as he added, "And then you were there for all of us when the Wizard just left us! You are everything to Oz, your Ozness."

Nobody knew that it was in fact Glinda who had forced the Wizard to leave, though once she had shown him that little green bottle, it hadn't taken much force from her to get him to leave on that large balloon contraption that he had once arrived at Oz in.

Knowing that she could never win this argument, Glinda decided to move on to a new subject, and asked, "What else is happening this morning, Captain?"

The man straightened up, and told her, "The rest of the morning you have free, your Ozness. You finished talking to your citizens early today. This afternoon your two friends from your school days are coming by for a visit, but until then, you have little to do."

Once again, Glinda inwardly twitched. She remembered when she had received a letter from Shenshen and Pfanee saying that they missed their dear friend Glinda so much. At that time she had thought that perhaps a visit with them would make her happier, but now that it was time to actually see them again, she remembered how much they had actually bothered her back in their school days. Of course, that was only after she had gotten close to…

Glinda sighed, rubbing her neck, and the guard looked at her.

"Are you all right, your Ozness?" he asked her, a worried expression on his face.

She smiled lightly at him, and said to reassure him, "I'm fine. Just a little tired, I suppose. I think I will spend the time in my room until I must get ready to meet Shenshen and Pfanee."

The man nodded, knowing that she did not mean her bedroom.

Nodding to the guard, Glinda stepped down off of the platform that held her throne up a bit higher than everything else in the room. She picked up the front of her blue dress so that she could walk without tripping on it, and walked quickly out of the room, using the same door that the guard had come out of.

Glinda walked down the long hallway outside the throne room, nodding to all of the servants who smiled and bowed to her as she passed them. They could tell from the set of her face where she was headed, and they all got out of her way, knowing that she did not like to be bothered when she was going to her room.

At the end of the hall she turned and climbed a set of stairs, holding her skirts up a bit higher. She made her way through her great palace, until she stopped outside of a single, old brown door. Carefully, she turned the doorknob and entered the room, shutting the door firmly behind her. She looked around the room where she knew everything had begun to go down hill. She stood in the attic of her palace, the place where she had been too afraid to defy gravity with her best friend.

Had anyone else been able to see her in there, they would have thought that the gorgeous woman with the beautiful blue dress and sparkling tiara on her head would have looked very out of place in the fairly dusty, badly lit room. However, since Glinda had forbid anyone to ever set foot in the attic, other than herself, nobody could see just how out-of-place she looked.

Reaching down to her side, Glinda drew out her long white wand, which she always kept in a hidden fold along the sides of all her dresses. She twirled it lightly in her nimble fingers, as she walked over to one of the large brown desk-tables in the large attic. She stopped at the table, staring down at what was always laying on top of it. An old black conical hat sat on the table, looking very forlorn. The tip of the hat had bent over, as if it had no reason to stand up straight anymore. She gently placed her wand down on the table next to the old hat, and then she lightly ran her fingers over the firm brim of the hat. Carefully she picked the old hat up in her small hands, and closed her eyes. She remembered the first time she had held the hat…

_"Galinda, what in Oz's name?" Pfanee exclaimed, as Shenshen pulled a solemn black hat out of Galinda's many hatboxes. _

_ Galinda rushed over, grabbing the hat out of Shenshen's hands, trying to hide the hideous hat from her friends' sight. _

_ "Now just pretend you didn't see that!" she told them, "My granny is always giving me the most hideodeous hats. I'd give it away, but I don't hate anyone that much." _

_ She saw Pfanee and Shenshen share a sly look as they grinned at each other, and when they looked back over at her, Shenshen said, "Yes you do!"_

_ "Give it to her! Just do it!" Pfanee added, and Galinda knew exactly who they were both referring to as that very same green girl knocked on her door calling for Galinda, saying the two of them needed to talk…_

"To think I gave you to her out of hatred," Glinda whispered to the old hat, petting it gently as if it was a living thing, "And now I couldn't possibly part with you."

She almost expected the hat to reply, and then she giggled lightly at herself.

"I know what Elphie would say if she could see me right now," she said to the hat, and then she deepened her voice a little, "'It's only a hat, Glinda. It isn't going to talk back, you know. It's just one more accessory that you don't need. You should spend more time studying your magic than talking to your clothing.'" Glinda smiled down at the hat, seeing it all play out in her mind. "And then she would have stuck her nose back into one of her books, getting lost in whatever she was reading, and I would have been able to talk to my clothes as much as I wanted, as long as I whispered and didn't interrupt her."

Tears started to prick in the back of her eyes at her thoughts, but she roughly shook her head to get rid of them. She had spent enough time crying over her lost friend, and she didn't need to spill anymore right now.

Glinda heard a small noise in the air, and then she felt a weight press down on her shoulder lightly. Smiling slightly, she turned her head, looking into the small brown eyes that met hers.

"Miss Glinda?" the small monkey asked, setting one of his little paws on her cheek, as he held on to her shoulder with his feet and other paw.

"I'm okay, Chistery," she assured him, "I was just thinking about her."

The small monkey saw the hat in her hands, and patted her cheek again lightly, trying to comfort her.

Glinda sighed before setting the black hat back on the table gently, next to her wand. Chistery held on to her shoulder as she moved, his tail wrapping around the back of her neck and on to her other shoulder. Finally she sighed once again and asked Chistery, "Where's the doctor?"

Chistery chattered and jumped up off of her shoulder into the air, where he spread his wings, catching the air beneath them, and soared towards the far corner of the large room. Glinda followed the flying Monkey into the corner, where she found the Goat who had at one point been her history teacher munching on some fresh shrubs that she had brought up for him the previous day.

"Thank you, Chistery," she told the Monkey, who had now perched himself down on a beam that held the roof of the palace up.

"Welcome," the Monkey replied between some chattering.

"Hello Doctor Dillamond," Glinda said to the Goat, who simply continued to chomp on his shrubs. Glinda sighed, and then said, "How are you today, Sir?"

The Goat looked up at the woman, a dull look in his eyes, and said around the shrubs in his mouth, "Baaaa!"

Glinda groaned and fell to her knees in front of the Goat, not caring about her dress.

"Please Doctor Dillamond!" she exclaimed, "You have to at least _try_ to speak! Don't you remember when you were a teacher at Shiz? You used to tell us that Animals had rights too! You said that you would never stop speaking out!"

The Goat simply continued to look at her, the dull look never leaving his eyes. Glinda wanted to bash her head into the wall beside her, but instead she took a deep breath and said, "That's okay, Doctor. I know you'll get it. Why don't we start with something easy? Can you say 'hello?' Come on Doctor, say hello!"

Glinda sat there for nearly an hour, trying to get a simple hello out of the old Goat. After a little while she switched to trying to get him to say bye. However, all she ever got out of him was a number of baas.

Finally Glinda leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes in defeat. A second later she felt a small thump in her lap, and one of her eyes creaked open to find Chistery looking up at her worriedly. She smiled down at him slightly.

"It's okay, Chistery," she told him, "We'll get him to talk. It's just going to take some work. But I'll get him back to his old Goat self. I owe it to-" but she stopped as a lump formed in her throat, and she could once again feel tears prick the back of her eyes.

Chistery muttered worriedly and pawed her face once again.

"Miss Glinda," he muttered, chattering again.

"I'm okay Chistery," she whispered to the Monkey, "I just… I miss her."

"Too," Chistery agreed, as he cuddled up against Glinda's chest, pawing her face reassuringly.

Glinda sat there for about another hour, Chistery curled up on her lap, Doctor Dillamond standing next to her pawing at the ground and chewing on the shrubs, as she slowly began to fall asleep.

A sharp knock on the door woke her up abruptly.

"Um, your Goodness?" a voice called from outside the room, "Your guests will be here in a few minutes."

"Oh wonderful," Glinda muttered to herself, as she picked herself up off of the floor, Chistery flying back up into the beams, and then she called out, "Thank you, I shall be down in just a few minutes."

"Yes, your Goodness," the voice called, and then Glinda heard footsteps scurrying away from the unknown room that Glinda often locked herself in.

Glinda sighed to herself, as she began brushing the Goat and Monkey hairs off of her dress. She had spent too much time here cut off from everything else that now she would have to keep her guests waiting a few minutes while she changed into a new dress, one that didn't smell of Animal. However, she didn't care. The attic was her favorite place to spend her time. Chistery was the only one who knew how she really had felt about the "Wicked" Witch of the West, so he was the only one that she could really be herself in front of. Plus she knew that she had to keep at Doctor Dillamond. She couldn't give up on the Goat. She knew a certain green girl who would have never given up.

"And neither will I," Glinda muttered to herself as she walked back over to the table and picked up her wand, hiding it once again in the folds of her dress. Then she turned to Chistery, who was watching her get herself presentable again, and said, "I'll try to be back again this evening, Chistery. See if you can get Dillamond to speak while I'm gone, okay?"

The Monkey nodded from his place in the beams and called down, "Kay!"

Opening the door, Glinda made a note to herself to work with Chistery more with vowel noises and sentences, before she stepped out of the room, shutting the door firmly behind her, as well as leaving her true self behind, as she plastered on her fake smile once again.

Taking a deep breath, Glinda opened the door and entered the large lounge room. The walls of the room were white with small designs around the tops and bottoms of the walls. There were a few large chairs with cushions pushed up against the walls, as well as a large couch that was the same light blue color as the chairs. Two people sat on the couch, looking a bit uncomfortable, which for some reason made Glinda want to actually smile. She held the feeling back, however, keeping the fake smile on her lips, as she walked calmly over towards where Pfanee and Shenshen sat.

The two girls jumped up to their feet upon seeing Glinda, and would have rushed over to her had she not picked up her pace and made it across the room first.

"Oh Glinda! This place is just so beautiful!" Pfanee exclaimed, gesturing around the room, trying to sweep the entire building in that one movement.

"Oh yes, so beautiful!" Shenshen agreed, "It certainly has your touch in every room that we've seen!"

"Thank you," Glinda replied, nodding her head, gesturing towards the couch, and the two girls practically fell back on the couch in their haste to sit down. Glinda went to move one of the chairs so that it was across the couch, but the servant who was standing in the corner of the room saw her intention, and hurried over to do it for her. She wanted to let out an exasperated sigh, but instead she held it in, and moved in front of the chair, sweeping her soft yellow dress that she had just changed into out as she sat down gracefully. Turning her attention back on her guests, who were watching her every move, she asked, "So how are you two? What have you been up to?"

The two girls rushed to tell her everything that had happened to them in the last few years, and Glinda listened intently. Or, at least she looked like she did. After a few minutes of listening to Shenshen talk about her marriage, and Pfanee talk about the many suitors who had come to ask for her hand, she tuned the two out, nodding every now and then, while she thought of different ways to get Doctor Dillamond to talk once again. It was working out very well for her until she realized that the two girls had stopped talking and were looking at her questioningly.

Trying to cover her slip, she asked, "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I asked if you had any cute guys coming around to ask you for your hand," Shenshen told her, and both of the women stared at her intently, grins on their faces.

Glinda was a bit taken aback at the question, so it took her a second to think of an answer. She realized that she should have been expecting this; after all, isn't that all the three of them had ever talked about back in their Shiz days? Boys and clothes?

"Well no," she replied after a second, hesitatingly.

"Too busy running everything?" Pfanee joked, a slight laugh escaping her lips, "It is just what you always wanted, after all!"

Glinda actually frowned at that.

"It is?" she asked.

"Of course!" Shenshen agreed, "To have everyone adore you! That's exactly what you wanted! Oh, well that and Fiyero!"

The two women fell into a fit of giggles, remembering days of listening to Glinda talk about the Winkie prince nonstop.

Glinda too fell into memories of the Winkie prince, as she muttered, "Oh yes. I do remember…"

"Whatever happened to Fiyero, anyway?" Pfanee asked, "Weren't you two going to get married?"

"Oh yes they were!" Shenshen agreed, looking at Pfanee, "I remember reading about the engagement, and hearing all of the gossip!"

"Fiyero… changed his mind," Glinda told them, looking just above their heads, so as to not look them in the eyes, "He didn't love me… No, that's not true. He did love me. He just… he loved her more."

There was a short silence as Glinda stared off, remembering when Fiyero had sacrificed himself for her.

_Glinda watched helplessly as the guards held on to Elphaba tightly so that she wouldn't get away. Elphaba struggled in their grasps, and then looked up at Glinda, and it shattered Glinda when she saw such anger and betrayal in her best friend's eyes. _

_ "I can't believe that you would sink this low! To use my sister's death as a trap to capture me!" she screamed at the blonde in rage. _

_ "No, I never meant for this to happen! Elphie!" Glinda cried in distress, not knowing how to help her friend. _

_ Suddenly Fiyero was there, a gun raised at his shoulder, the end pointing at the guards. _

_ "Let the green girl go!" he exclaimed, glaring at the guards. _

_ The guards looked confused, not knowing if they should listen to Fiyero, as he was their captain, but knowing that they shouldn't let go of the Wicked Witch. _

_ "Fiyero, how in Oz?" Glinda cried, staring at the man she still loved. _

_ Fiyero looked at her, and then back at the guards. Suddenly he pointed his gun at Glinda, and cried, "I said let her go! Or explain to all Oz how the Wizard's guards watched while Glinda that Good was slain!"_

_ Glinda felt as if her heart was breaking all over again. _

_ "Fiyero…" she said softly, looking into his eyes. She saw a sorrow in them towards her, but also a steely determination. She could tell that he had made his choice, and he wasn't going back on it. _

_ "I said let her go!" he growled, and finally the guards released Elphaba, who stumbled forward a bit, looking at Fiyero. _

_ "Elphaba, go now," he told her softly. _

_ "Not without you," she replied, stepping towards him. _

_ "Fiyero, please," Glinda begged, taking a step towards the Winkie prince, but he held the gun tighter, shifting his stance slightly, and she stopped, getting the warning. _

_ "Hush! Now go!" he cried, but Elphaba hesitated. _

_ "Do it!" Glinda cried out, throwing a look at her best friend. Elphaba looked at her, her eyes full of painful sorrow, before she ran off into the cornfield. As soon as she was out of sight, Fiyero threw the gun on the ground, and placed his hands above his head. _

_ "Seize him!" one of the guards yelled, and they all ran forward at once, seizing him roughly, and dragging him forward. _

_ "Wait, what?" Glinda exclaimed, and then she ran forward, trying to throw herself into the mix, but one of the guards pulled away from the group, and held her back, as she flailed against him, crying, "What are you doing? Stop it! In the name of goodness, stop! Don't you see? He wasn't going to harm me, he just… he just… he loves her."_

_ Towards the end of her sentence she had lost most of her momentum, and the guard holding onto her was now holding her up. She met Fiyero's eyes as the guards hauled him up above their heads, and the pain in his eyes tore at her heart, as he cried, "Glinda, I'm sorry!"_

_ One of the guards, the one who seemed to be in charge called out roughly, "Take him to that field there! Put him on one of those poles until he tells us where the witch went!"_

_ Hearing this, the terror that coursed through Glinda gave her more energy, and she began to fight against the guard who still held her as she screamed, "No, don't hurt him! Please, don't hurt him! Fiyero!"_

Glinda shuddered slightly as the memory shot through her. Once she had taken over the Wizard's title, she had called in each of the guards who had been there that day, to get the story of what happened to Fiyero out. When they told her that a great light shone brightly out of Fiyero's body, making them shield their eyes, and when they looked again, he was made of straw, and nothing that they could do would hurt him, she had known that Elphaba's magic had saved him. Just one more time when Elphie had come to the rescue while she just stood there and watched. She had then learned that the scarecrow had escaped and had never been seen again. Glinda hoped that Fiyero had found happiness and safety somewhere. After all, one of them deserved to live happily ever after, right?

Glinda jumped slightly when she heard Shenshen say, "So it's true? The rumor about that witch putting a spell on Fiyero and stealing him from you?"

She had forgotten momentarily that Shenshen and Pfanee were present, and then when she heard how the citizens of Oz thought it had happened, she was struck speechless. It didn't matter, however, as Pfanee, shaking her head, said, "That witch _was _always so jealous of you, though."

Shenshen nodded, saying, "Oh yes! Don't you remember how she jumped at the chance at being your roommate? And then how she was always listening in on our conversations while she pretended to read those books of hers!"

Pfanee and Shenshen continued on, not noticing the amazed look that was on Glinda's face. Amazed, and slightly repulsed.

_Is that how I used to be? _she thought, _Twisting reality until it was however I wanted it to be? Seeing everything as if I was the center of the world?_

Glinda shuddered, knowing that indeed it was how she used to act. She remembered days in Shiz when she would sit in her classes, only thinking about what she would wear the next day to make everyone else jealous of her. She remembered walking from class to class, each time having a different boy carry her books for her, and how she would never even look at the poor sap again until she got to the class, and took her books back from him. She had danced around on people's hearts, not caring that she was breaking them. It all made Glinda want to hide in shame now.

"How about some tea and cakes?" she asked her guests, wanting to get away from the topic and the memories that came with it.

Both girls nodded their heads vigorously, and Glinda called on the servant in the corner of the room to bring out the snacks, and while she was gone Glinda got up and moved the small white table that was in the room so that it sat between the couch where Pfanee and Shenshen and her own chair. Soon the woman was back, accompanied by another servant, who was carrying a tray with a large teapot and three dainty teacups, as the first carried a tray with a number of various pastries on it. Pfanee and Shenshen oohed and aahed as the servants set down the trays, and Glinda thanked them, before pouring out cups of tea for all three of them, and then they began chatting about random things while they sipped their tea and nibbled at their cakes.

Finally the tea and cakes were gone, and the three girls continued to chatter until Shenshen and Pfanee agreed that they needed to be leaving. Glinda, relieved, told them how nice it had been seeing and talking to them again, and then walked them to the front doors, waving goodbye as they told her how much fun they had had, and how they all needed to get together again soon. Glinda agreed, making a mental note to fill her schedule up, so that she would have an excuse to turn them down, the next time she got a letter from them.

As the two women walked down the many steps of the great palace, Glinda turned around, walking back into her palace, as a few guards shut the large doors behind her. Memories were racing around her mind, but she didn't want to think about the past while she had to put on a show for everyone around her, so she decided to busy herself by walking around her home, greeting her many servants, and listening as they, feeling so privileged that the great Glinda the Good would stop about her busy day and talk to them, told her all about themselves and their work. Glinda would listen with a smile, focusing all of her attention on what they were telling her.

She made her way through her palace in this way, stopping in the hallways whenever she would see someone that she had not yet spoken to. She learned names of the newer people in her home, and listened to the stories from those people whom she had met already. She would laugh politely whenever someone would tell her a joke, and she smiled at everyone she talked to.

Eventually she made it to the kitchen, where she had a number of men and women who cooked for the entire palace. When she entered the room, everyone stopped what they were doing, but soon got back to work, after seeing that she was simply there to talk to them. She walked to each person, coaxing them into telling her about them, and eventually she had a small group around her, talking and laughing with her. Finally it got to the point where the head cook, a tough but kind older woman with thick arms, had to ask her to leave, saying that her people couldn't concentrate on what they were supposed to be doing with the great Glinda among them. Glinda might have argued with the large cook if she hadn't have said it with a large, kind grin on her face, but instead nodded and excused herself from the kitchen.

Glinda walked slowly through her halls, looking at the many tapestries and paintings that hung on the walls. She didn't realize where she was going until she saw a forked hallway ahead of her, one which was well-lit, while the other was dimly lit, and uninviting. With a determined expression, Glinda picked up her long skirts once again and hurried down the dim hallway. The hallway was long, and sloped downward slightly, so that by the time Glinda reached the doorway at the end of the hall, she knew that she was underground.

A guard stood outside the door, and looked startled as he realized that it was Glinda coming down the hall towards him. Quickly he bowed, muttering, "Miss Glinda? How can I help ya?"

Glinda nodded towards the door, and replied, "I would like to go in there, thank you."

The guard looked pained, as he said, "Miss Glinda, ya know we don't like it when ya ask that of us. The people in thar are dangerous."

Glinda looked down her nose slightly at the man, which was not an easy feet, as he was probably a full foot taller than she was.

"I know you don't, good sir. And yet I still wish to go in there. You know that I will not be going to any of the truly dangerous criminals. And you and the other guards shall be right out here, so I can call for you if I need you," she informed him, and he grimaced, but then he turned and opened the door for her, telling her, "A' right, I spose you can go in."

Glinda nodded her head at him, and told him, "Thank you."

Quickly she walked through the open door, and past a set of guards who stood on the other side of the door. The two men looked surprised to see her, but didn't argue when the first guard told them, "Come on, boys. Leave Miss Glinda alone and stand out here in the hall with me while she visits one a the prisoners."

Before the door shut again, the man called out, "Ya let us know if ya need anything, Miss Glinda. And let us know if any a these lowlifes give ya a hard time, cause they'll be paying for it if they do." He glared at all of the cells full of people before finally closing the door.

They were a few mutterings from the number of prisoners in the cells, but Glinda ignored them all as she walked hastily down the dark hall way until she reached one of the cells at the very back of the room. She stopped outside the cell, and peered inside of it. The cells were small, so it didn't take her long to find the figure she was looking for. After a few seconds, the figure got up from the bed she had been sitting on at the back of the cell, and came forward to the bars.

The first thing that Glinda noticed as Morrible stepped into the light was her hair. It was still held up in her tight buns on the sides of her head, but now it was a darker color, due to all of the dirt and dust in it. Also, it looked quite greasy, as if it hadn't been washed for a while, which Glinda was sure it hadn't. The second thing that she noticed was the outfit that Morrible now wore. Instead of her old, colorful dresses, she now wore the standard brown jumpsuit of the prisons. In between the dirty hair and brown jumpsuit, was Morrible's expression as she stared back at Glinda. She no longer had a fake smile on her lips. Now her lips were pressed together in a line, as her eyes stared at Glinda with a look of pure hate.

"Well well well," she said from behind the bars of her cell, "To what do I owe this visit?"

Glinda ignored the question, and looked at the woman before her. Lifetime imprisonment hadn't boded well for Morrible. She had gained weight, and new wrinkles now lined her face. More than that, the look of utter hatred that radiated off of her caught Glinda's attention. However she figured that that had been there all along, only before it had been covered by her thirst for power.

Glinda tilted her head a bit, and told the woman, "You don't seem to be doing too well in here. I suppose I was right; you don't have what it takes to survive prison."

Morrible glared at her, and asked, "Is that why you've come here? Just to kick an old woman while she's down?"

Glinda rolled her eyes. She was so happy that she could act like herself in front of Morrible that she actually enjoyed the times when she came down to visit the old woman.

"Oh please Morrible," she said, "You put yourself in here. If you hadn't have been so power hungry, you might not have ended up in here."

"Oh?" Morrible asked, "And is that my official charge? I've often wondered what it was exactly that I am being charged of. After all, wondering is all I am able to do while I'm in here."

Glinda shrugged her shoulders; she wasn't about to feel sorry for the woman who had used to be her teacher and then colleague.

"The official charge is murder," Glinda told her, "Or did you forget that you dropped a house down on Nessa? Of course, you won't ever be getting a trial. Since I'm in charge now, I can make sure that happens. You'll never even have a chance of getting out of here."

Morrible pursed her lips together and raised her eyebrows at Glinda.

"Really?" she asked Glinda, "Then why aren't you in the cell next to me? Or did _you_ forget that you were the one that made me think of killing Nessa? That makes you an accessory to murder."

Morrible had thought that this would surprise Glinda and possibly make her shriek, but she was surprised when Glinda simply continued staring at her.

"Did you think I'd never thought about that?" Glinda asked her, "I knew the moment that I realized you had killed her that it was partially my fault. But I've punished myself for my crime, don't you worry about that."

Morrible raised her eyebrows again and laughed lightly.

"Oh?" she asked, "And how exactly did you do that?"

Glinda looked up the few inches that separated the two women in height, and told her, "I stayed here."

Morrible was shocked at the response.

"What do you mean?" she asked, quite confused.

"I stayed here, where I have to listen to everybody talk about the 'Wicked' Witch of the West every day," Glinda replied, staring off into space slightly, "I have to listen as people talk about how terrible and horrifying she was, and worse, I have to _agree_ with them, when all I want to do is bash their heads against the nearest wall and tell them all how stupid they are."

Morrible frowned, looking at Glinda as if she'd just grown two heads. Finally Glinda looked back at her, and told her, "I would much rather live in a cell like you are, believe me. Then I'd never have to listen to these fools talk about things they don't understand. I could live every day reliving the past, instead of having to look towards a future that I don't want to be a part of. But I am paying for my crime, and so will you."

Morrible stared back at the younger woman for a few moments, but then a small grin grew on her face, and Glinda prepared herself for whatever nonsense she was about to throw at her.

"Well, at least I am only responsible for _one _of the Thropp sisters' death," she said, and Glinda paled slightly.

"What do you mean?" she demanded, and the ugly grin grew larger on Morrible's face.

"Well," she replied, "_I_ wasn't the one who gave those shoes to that strange young girl, was I? You must have known that young Elphaba would want the shoes, and in so chase after the young girl. So you see my dear, you are the one who set up the stage for dear Elphaba's melting."

"Shut up!" Glinda screamed in a very un-Glinda way, her eyes flashing, "Just shut up!"

Morrible chuckled, saying, "Oh have I hit a nerve in Miss Glinda the Good? Oh dear oh dear!"

Glinda grabbed the bars to Morrible's cell in her furry. She wanted to reach inside the bars and wrap her little hands around the older woman's throat. She was sure it wouldn't take much more than a tight _squeeze _and the woman would never be able to say such things ever again…

Suddenly Glinda threw herself away from the bars and rushed down the hall, away from Morrible's cell. The old woman's cackle followed her down the hallway, but she could barely hear it. Instead she was listening to the voice shout in her head. In the back of her mind she had always had the thought that she was responsible for Elphaba's death, but she had never allowed the thought to fully form. She could live with being responsible for Nessa's death, even if it wasn't easy. But the thought that it was _her _fault that Elphaba was gone… she couldn't even consider the possibility as her insides tore at her.

She stopped at the end of the hallway a few feet before the door. She couldn't let the guards outside the door see her like this, or they would start asking questions, and she couldn't stand answering them right now. So she slowly composed herself back together. She pushed the thoughts that her conversation with Morrible had created to the back of her mind, and went back to focusing on being fake. She composed her face once again into a look of polite indifference, and smoothed out her dress, more as something to steady her hands with than because it had been mussed, and then calmly walked forward, and knocked on the door. One of the three guards opened it for her, and she walked through it, nodding to the three men.

"Thank you gentlemen," she told them all, and continued walking down the hallway.

She spent the rest of the late afternoon talking with more servants, and then it was time for her to have dinner. She sat at a long table alone, fabulous dishes presented in front of her, but she hardly looked at what she swallowed. Instead she focused on not focusing on anything, and just ate.

After dinner, she went for a short walk around her palace, gathering a number of small bushes as she went, until she was at the back of the castle, in a large shadow. There, she took out her wand and made a number of large bubbles appear, forming around the bushes. With a wave of her wand, the bubbles rose into the air, the bushes safely inside them, and floated up towards the attic, where they slipped inside the window that she nearly always kept open.

Satisfied with herself for the moment, Glinda continued on her walk, until she had traveled all around the base of the palace, and then she slowly entered her home once again. She walked around for a little while, and then made her way once again up to the attic. Once there with the door closed behind her, she felt her shoulders relax a little.

"Chistery?" she called, as she once again set her wand down on the table, but this time ignored the hat sitting there.

"Miss Glinda!" the small Monkey called, falling out of the air and landing on her shoulder.

She smiled, as she reached into a pocket on her dress. She pulled out a number of berries and nuts that had been on the dinner table, and handed one of them to the happy Monkey, who chattered happily.

"Here you are," she said to him, as he bit into a juicy berry, "And how's our dear Doctor?"

Chistery grabbed another berry from her hands, and said, "The same," before biting into it.

"I thought as much so," Glinda sighed, as she began walking towards the corner of the room that the old Goat fancied.

He still stood there, only now he was chomping lightly on one of the new shrubs that Glinda had just sent up. He looked up at her as she got nearer, and when she stopped a couple of feet from him, he opened his mouth and said, "Baaa!"

Glinda sighed, and then sat down lightly in front of the Goat as she told him, "Now Doctor, I'm not joking around: we _are _going to get you to speak again."

He cocked his head at her voice, but had no other reaction.

"Now then, I've been thinking," she continued, "Perhaps we shouldn't start with full words. Perhaps instead we should start with what different letters sound like. Since you already have a fairly good grasp on the a and b sound, we will start with those two! Now then Professor, can you say baaa, but without the b sound?"

For another hour Glinda tried to get the Goat to say different sounds. This seemed to work out a bit better than with saying full words. Every now and then the Goat would bleat without any b, but Glinda was unsure if this was because they were making progress, or if it was simply a coincidence. However, she decided to stay positive, and made herself believe that it was progress. Every now and then Chistery would chime in with different letter sounds, and at one point the small Monkey baaed back at the old Goat, surprising them all. Doctor Dillamond's eyes widened and he stepped back away from the Monkey, and Glinda giggled at the two Animals.

Eventually Glinda decided that that was enough of a speaking lesson for the day, and she leaned back against the wall. Leaning her head back, she could see out the window that she had dropped the shrubs through. The sky was dark, and she could see a few stars twinkling in the far distance. She sighed, as Chistery curled up in her lap, and Dillamond lay down next to her.

"I'm sorry you guys," Glinda told the two Animals as she stared up at the sky, "I'm sorry I have to keep you two locked away like this. You deserve to be out there. In here is as good as a cage."

Chistery looked up at Glinda, frowning.

"No cage," he told her, "Wizard cage."

Glinda frowned, remembering.

"That's right," she said, "He did keep you in a cage, didn't he? Still, this isn't much better."

Chistery shook his head, and said, "This better. This free. Chistery can fly here. Doctor can walk. Much better."

Glinda sighed, as she said, "Yes, it's better, but it isn't the best. You two should be free out there."

"Chistery been out there," Chistery said, pointing at the window, "Bad people. Stupid animals. Stupid people. Here better. Here Glinda."

Tears pricked Glinda's eyes once again, but before they could fall she scooped Chistery up in her arms, in a way that she wasn't crushing his wings or tail, and hugged him tightly. She felt his little arms go around her neck, as he hugged her back.

"I love you, Chistery," she whispered to him.

"Love you Glinda," Chistery replied, "Us friends."

Glinda pulled away from the hug, and looked the little Monkey in the eyes. She didn't remember ever teaching that word to him, or ever saying it in front of him.

"Do you know what that word means, Chistery?" she asked him, curious.

Chistery grinned up at her, and nodded.

"Friends," he told her, "Chistery and Glinda. Chistery and Miss Elphaba. Glinda and Miss Elphaba."

Glinda had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep a tear from escaping, but then she nodded.

"Yes," she agreed, "That's exactly right. Good job Chistery."

"Thank you," the Monkey told her.

The three sat in silence for a few more minutes, before Glinda sighed.

"I suppose I should be getting to bed," she said, "I have to get up early tomorrow to get ready for my meeting with the mayor of the Quadlings and his wife. We're going to be discussing importing and exporting goods out of Quadling country."

Chistery scrunched his nose up and said, "Boring."

Glinda nodded, as she stood up stiffly, moving the Monkey to her shoulder, and agreed with, "Yes, very. But I have to do it. It's in the job description, sadly."

She leaned down and patted Doctor Dillamond, who was sleeping, lightly behind the ears, which twitched as she touched them.

"Good night, Professor," she told him, "Please don't give up on me. I know I'm no Elphie but… I'm trying."

She then moved back over to the table and picked up her wand, twirling it between the pads on her fingers again, as she stared at the black hat for a few seconds. Finally she turned away, and stuffed her wand back into her pocket. She lightly patted Chistery on the head and told him, "Good night Chistery. Sweet dreams."

Chistery nuzzled her cheek lightly in return and told her, "Night Glinda. Dream sweet!"

With that he jumped off of her shoulder and soared through the air, and made his way back up to his perch in the beams. Once he was sitting safely on his beam, Glinda opened the door, and stepped back out into the hallway. After shutting the door firmly behind her, she made her way through the palace to her bedroom.

Her bedroom was a fairly large room, but also quite simple. A large bed stood against the center of one wall, with a light pink bed spread on it. A large dresser stood across from it, next to a closet that held a number of beautiful dresses in it, and on the wall with the door there was a large desk and chair with a mirror above it, and make up spread neatly all over the top of it. The far wall had a set of glass doors on it, with fine white curtains hanging on the inside of them. They opened out on to a small balcony that Glinda liked to spend time on.

The room wasn't huge: there were many in the palace that were bigger. It also wasn't the fanciest, and there were many other that had balconies connected to them. The servants had often asked her if she'd like to change to one of the better rooms, but she always declined the offer. To her, it was the best room, because this was the only room with a balcony on the west side of the palace.

Glinda walked over to the dresser and pulled out a thin white nightgown from it. She stripped out of the yellow dress, setting it in a basket that stood in one corner of the room for the maids to pick up every day. She changed into the thin nightgown quickly, and then sat down at the desk and mirror, and began to slowly brush her hair out, leaving it to hang loosely down her back.

Finally she set down her wooden hairbrush, and stood up, moving towards her bed. When she got the bed, she reached under her soft white pillow and pulled out the little green bottle beneath it. She closed her eyes, remembering when she had pulled the same bottle from beneath a different pillow, at a different time, and a different place…

_"Really, Fiyero's asked you to marry him already?" Elphaba asked the young Galinda, very surprised. _

_ Galinda tossed her head back and giggled, and then replied, "No, he doesn't know yet! Now, you tell me a secret."_

_ Elphaba looked a little worried as she asked the happy Galinda, "Like what?" _

_ Galinda thought a minute as she sat herself down on her roommate's bed, and then got a brilliant plan. Quickly her hand flew beneath Elphaba's pillow, pulling out the little green bottle beneath it. _

_ "Like… Why do you always sleep with this funny little green bottle under your pillow?" she asked, as she bounced quickly off of her new friend's bed and onto her own. _

_ Elphaba followed her, eyes flashing as she grabbed for the bottle, saying, "Give that back!"_

_ Galinda teased her with the bottle as she sang out, "C'mon, tell me. Tell me tell me!"_

_ Elphaba stepped back slightly and exclaimed, "It was my mother's! That's all…"_

Glinda shook her head, thinking about the story that had unfolded after that. That Elphaba blamed herself for her mother's death always confused Glinda. It was so obviously not her fault, and yet Elphie always blamed herself.

She sighed as her fingers tightened slightly around the bottle. Slowly she stood up straight again, and then she walked around the bed, towards the doors to the balcony. She opened the doors once she reached them, and stepped out onto the green balcony. She walked to the edge, and leaned against the railing that kept her falling to her death. She stared at the little bottle for a few moments, and then looked out at the western sky. Elphaba's words flew through her memory as she closed her eyes, and she said them out loud.

"So if you care to find me, look to the western sky, as someone told me lately, everyone deserves the chance to fly," she said quietly, and the wind that had kicked up seemed to blow them away as soon as they left her lips.

Opening her eyes, Glinda looked up into the sky. There, like every night, the stars shined down at her, and one in particular caught her attention. This star seemed a bit brighter to Glinda than all of the other stars.

"Oh Elphie," she whispered to the star, "If I could do one thing over again, I would go back and climb on that old broomstick with you. I was just so scared… and foolish. I'm sorry. I didn't know until you were gone that flying solo is so… lonely."

Glinda stood out there on her balcony, with the wind blowing around her and pulling at her hair and nightgown, and she finally let the tears that she had been holding back all day slide down her cheeks, to be carried away with the wind.

After all of her tears were gone and she had been standing out there for many minutes she sighed and took her bloodshot eyes off of the star in the distance, and turned towards her room, where she would sleep until she had to get up for her next, lonely day, defying gravity in secret from all of those around her.

The young woman stood outside her small house, staring up at the dark eastern sky and shining stars. Due to the darkness around her, any person passing by would not have been able to tell that the woman's skin was a soft green shade. Of course, the whole reason the green woman was living in the small house was because it was miles away from any sort of civilization, so she didn't need to worry about anybody passing by. The woman stared at a small star that seemed to shine a bit brighter than all of the other stars around it. She continued to stare at the star, even as the tall straw man walked out of her house and stood next to her, looping his arm around her waist.

"What is it, Elphaba?" the man asked her quietly.

The green woman sighed slightly as she leaned into the man's hold.

"I was just thinking," she told him, still watching the star.

The man looked down at the green woman and asked, "What of?"

There was a short pause before the woman told him quietly, "Glinda. I feel terrible that we just left her there, believing that I'm dead."

The scarecrow man sighed now.

"You know we had to," he told his love, "It was the only way to ensure our safety."

"I know," the woman informed him, "But it doesn't make me feel any better about it. I'm supposed to be her friend."

"You're her best friend," the man whispered, causing the woman to sigh in exasperation.

"That's even worse! If _friends_ don't let other friends believe that they're dead, then _best _friends definitely shouldn't!" she cried, glaring up at him as she pulled out of his hold slighlty.

The man closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them again, looking at the green woman.

"Elphaba, I don't like this any more than you do. I love Glinda too, and you know that. I hate that she thinks that you're dead, and for all we know that I'm dead! I want to go to her, and tell her everything, and then bring her here, so that we could all live without the lies and cruelty of the world, but I can't, and neither can you! This is the way it has to be. We can't fight that," he told her quietly.

The woman pursed her lips, wanting to argue with what he had said. However, she knew that she couldn't and suddenly she seemed to deflate, as she leaned against her love once again.

"I just… I'm not used to not fighting, Fiyero," she muttered, and the man chuckled lightly.

"I know, Love, I know. I don't like it either," he said, as he pulled her closer.

She sighed again, and looked back up at the shining star.

"I just hope she's happy," Elphaba whispered, tears prickling her eyes, and before she could stop them, a few slipped down her green cheeks.

* * *

**Well? What did you think? Not exactly a "happily ever after" story, but I mean, it just isn't that kinda story, sadly. :( It's a very sad fact. Maybe sometime I'll write one where they do all three get to live happily away from all of the fools of Oz, but not this one... Anyway, as I said before, reviews will be much appreciated, so that I know what needs to be better for whatever I write next! Thanks so much! **


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